P. Faliro: arrest of 49-year-old for extortion

A 49-year-old man was arrested on Saturday afternoon, August 8 at the boundary between Palaio Faliro and Kallithea, following a coordinated police operation in the southern suburbs. The detainee had been wanted since 2025 based on a warrant issued following investigation by the Extortion Unit. The arrest was made after authorities located the point where he had been moving in recent days. Identity details have not been released to the public.

According to what is attributed to the 49-year-old, he allegedly belonged to the operational branch of an organized crime group active in Attica. The organization is attributed with extortions against business owners, as well as violent assaults on individuals with whom its members had disputes. The detainee has not been tried for these acts and the presumption of innocence applies fully until a final binding judgment is rendered by the competent courts.

Officers handling the case had information that the wanted person had fled abroad after the warrant was issued. Recently, however, authorities estimated he had returned to Greece and organized an operation to locate him. The identification and location were made following exploitation of information, while the arrest was completed without incident. The file that had been opened will be supplemented with new information and submitted to the competent prosecutorial authority.

The Extortion Unit of the Attica Security Directorate has been processing cases for some time now involving organized groups which, according to authorities, target business owners and professionals. Cases of this type are characterized by difficulty in gathering evidence, as victims often hesitate to report. The police have not provided information on the total number of defendants arrested overall within the framework of this investigation.

For Attica, the case falls within a series of investigations in recent years around organized circuits operating in the basin. The area where the arrest took place is densely populated and located on an axis with heavy traffic, a fact that required careful planning of the operation. No injuries to civilians or police were reported, nor was there any disruption to traffic at the site during the operation.

The Greek Police have not issued an official statement with detailed information about the arrest, and the information that has been made public comes from reporting. It remains open whether the file includes other wanted individuals. It is also unclear how many specific extortion cases are attributed to the 49-year-old, or whether there are complaints that have not yet been included in the investigation folder.

The next step is the bringing of the detainee before the competent prosecutor and the commencement of the process that will determine whether he will be held in pretrial detention or released with restrictive conditions. No hearing date has been announced. Investigations into the broader activity of the organization continue, without it being known whether further arrests are expected in the near future.